tomb

American  

[toom] / tum /

noun

• tombs
  plural

1. an excavation in earth or rock for the burial of a corpse; grave.

2. a mausoleum, burial chamber, or the like.

3. a monument for housing or commemorating a dead person.

4. any sepulchral structure.

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verb (used with object)

1. to place in or as if in a tomb; entomb; bury.

tomb British  

/ tuːm /

noun

1. a place, esp a vault beneath the ground, for the burial of a corpse

2. a stone or other monument to the dead

3. a poetic term for death

4. anything serving as a burial place

   the sea was his tomb

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verb

1. rare (tr) to place in a tomb; entomb

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• tombal
  adjective
• tombless
  adjective
• tomblike
  adjective
• untombed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tombs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tomb

1225–75; Middle English tumbe < Anglo-French; Old French tombe < Late Latin tumba < Greek týmbos burial mound; akin to Latin tumēre to swell. See tumor, tumulus

Explanation

A tomb is a place where a dead person is buried. Usually, a tomb is under a tombstone, which says the name of the person who died and when they lived. We're all going to die, and that means we're all going to end up in some type of tomb: a place where a corpse is buried. Over time, there have been many types of tombs, including the huge, ornate, elaborate tombs of the Egyptians. Other tombs are simpler, involving the simple burial of a box or the cremated remains.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tomb tombs

Pale stone walls and floors evoke the interior of an Egyptian tomb.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

A genetic study of 132 people buried in a large megalithic tomb near Bury, about 50 kilometers north of Paris, has uncovered evidence of a dramatic population collapse and replacement during the Stone Age.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026

The rescuers guided Gil out of his would-be tomb, onto a gurney and outside into the crush of onlookers waiting below the tropical sun, already blazing before 10 a.m.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026

Since then, his stunningly well-preserved remains have been kept at the same temperature -- minus six degrees Celsius -- as his icy tomb.

From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026

“Someone who has, you know, good grades and stuff? Our whole tomb depends on it. No offense, but you can’t give that job to just anybody.”

From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina

The Theban Necropolis, located across the Nile from Luxor, contains more than 400 tombs.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

We visited on a sunny day, and the wind blew hard as we traced Mina and Lucy’s steps through the tombs and along the path past the Abbey toward Robin Hood’s Bay.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026

There is little doubt that a crumbling Egyptian economy circa 1,100 B.C. prompted the country’s early leadership to loot the tombs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026

Nine other tombs "similar" to the one found on Friday had already been found at the site, she added.

From Barron's ● Feb. 21, 2026

But I guess the rest was all right, down in the tombs with torches and swords and stuff.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt

Related Words

• burial
• coffin
• mausoleum
• monument
• pit
• vault